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How many user really want FireWire on new MacBooks?

Do you really need FireWire on regular MacBooks?

  • Total voters
    467
I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 530 and that didn't come with firewire. Fortunately, it is a desktop so I was able to install a firewire card on the spare PCI slot to use with my Focusrite Saffire LE firewire audio interface. I remember thinking that if this was a notebook then I would of been screwed and that is what Apple have done with their new entry level notebooks:mad:

There is no excuse for Apple to miss out firewire on their new Macbooks because it is a notebook and you cannot upgrade on notebooks with the exception of hard drives and memory. Also alot of Pros like using the MacBook for it being compact and alot of Pros prefer using firewire for both audio production and video production.


Artmuzz
 
Artmuzz said:
I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 530 and that didn't come with firewire. Fortunately, it is a desktop so I was able to install a firewire card on the spare PCI slot to use with my Focusrite Saffire LE firewire audio interface. I remember thinking that if this was a notebook then I would of been screwed and that is what Apple have done with their new entry level notebooks:mad:

There is no excuse for Apple to miss out firewire on their new Macbooks because it is a notebook and you cannot upgrade on notebooks with the exception of hard drives and memory. Also alot of Pros like using the MacBook for it being compact and alot of Pros prefer using firewire for both audio production and video production.


Artmuzz
Click to expand...

Yup! While manufacturers like M-Audio do make USB audio interfaces, they definitely aren't anything like the Firewire ones. I have a Firewire 410 and I love that thing to death! I bought it for 200 used, and it has served me well in just about everything from light music production to voice-overs for short films and the like. I also own a Canon HV30, an excellent HDV camera that costed 600 dollars and is about a month old or so. It does great for what I do(amateur film) and I'd rather not replace it because of the fact that the new macbooks lacking firewire. Make a smaller MBP, Apple... There are many of us that would probably pay for a higher quality screen+Firewire in a smaller package.
 
I use the firewire port on my late '07 white MacBook with an external drive with a clone of the Mac's internal drive on it. Being able to boot from the clone on the external drive is a great way of testing the clone and the backup it provides greatly reduces the pain and hassle of dealing with a crashed internal hard disk or when up-sizing the internal drive.

So, when I bought another MacBook today to replace a daughter's crashed Compaq laptop, I got her the cheaper white MacBook instead of the nicer aluminum MacBook we wanted when we learned they cannot boot from clone on an external USB drive.

c.d.
 
cdp3 said:
So, when I bought another MacBook today to replace a daughter's crashed Compaq laptop, I got her the cheaper white MacBook instead of the nicer aluminum MacBook we wanted when we learned they cannot boot from clone on an external USB drive.
Click to expand...

You were told wrong. Intel Macs can boot from USB. Just don't count on super rapid performance.
 
No Target Disk mode is the reason i would not upgrade the the new MB. This function is one of the better features on a mac. It ahs saved me many times when my super drive has died. Being able to boot up from another MB and install software keeps my MB working.

I hope they are able to bring this function back in teh near future. :(
 
bigspoody said:
No Target Disk mode is the reason i would not upgrade the the new MB. This function is one of the better features on a mac. It ahs saved me many times when my super drive has died. Being able to boot up from another MB and install software keeps my MB working.
Click to expand...

There's a workaround for that. The new macbooks make it very easy to remove the HD. Simply pop it into a SATA enclosure (some cheap ones need no screws and are about $10-$20) and connect to it with your other computer via FW or USB. Sorted.

I wish there was a workround for connecting a FW camera :(
 
RedTomato said:
There's a workaround for that. The new macbooks make it very easy to remove the HD. Simply pop it into a SATA enclosure (some cheap ones need no screws and are about $10-$20) and connect to it with your other computer via FW or USB. Sorted.
Click to expand...

That's a workaround?? I use target disk mode on a daily basis, and I'm certainly not going to be popping the drive out of my Macbook every day.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
You were told wrong. Intel Macs can boot from USB. Just don't count on super rapid performance.
Click to expand...

My new Macbook would not boot from an external USB drive with another Leopard install on it. The external does show up when I hold down the option key, but will not load.

This very same external drive and OS work flawlessly when attached via firewire.

I for one would like to know how to boot from USB.
 
jdwingnut said:
My new Macbook would not boot from an external USB drive with another Leopard install on it. The external does show up when I hold down the option key, but will not load.

This very same external drive and OS work flawlessly when attached via firewire.

I for one would like to know how to boot from USB.
Click to expand...

When you say "new Macbook," do you mean a new aluminum model? If you are trying to boot an older version of Leopard on an aluminum Macbook it isn't going to boot, period. That even goes for versions of 10.5.5 that are older than the one that came with the new Macbook. The new models include drivers for the new graphics chips that aren't supported by older versions of 10.5.5.
 
Eric S. said:
That's a workaround?? I use target disk mode on a daily basis, and I'm certainly not going to be popping the drive out of my Macbook every day.
Click to expand...

True, it'd be bit of a pain for you. But it's still (in theory) possible. And you have to admit, there's not many people who use TDM every single day. (and using an ethernet cable or network over FW are other option for daily use)

Compare this to the utter lack of a workaround for FW cameras. 95% of decent cameras use FW.
 
at the VERY LEAST apple SHOULD offer a Firewire adapter to go into their miniport on the side...

And after paying $1200 for an AVCHD Sony Camcorder.. i'm PISSED...
that thing uses firewire... and i was planning on a macbook because of iLife and how good it is @ video editing (sure it's not professional, but it will give me what i want, and unlike in windows, i dont have to hunt for ANY software...)
 
Flame but, but I'm fine with no FireWire on the new MacBooks. I use FW400 for connecting my backup drive (old Maxtor One Touch II) to my iMac. Soon I'll even use FW800 with my new OWC dual drive enclosure (2 x 1TB in RAID 1). The Maxtor drive will then become the MacBook's backup drive, and USB2 will be fine for that. Sure it would have been nice, as even FW400 is faster than USB2, but it's definitely no deal breaker for me.
 
Eric S. said:
When you say "new Macbook," do you mean a new aluminum model? If you are trying to boot an older version of Leopard on an aluminum Macbook it isn't going to boot, period. That even goes for versions of 10.5.5 that are older than the one that came with the new Macbook. The new models include drivers for the new graphics chips that aren't supported by older versions of 10.5.5.
Click to expand...
And that's why you should always have a full, up to date SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup of your internal hard drive.
 
Bengt77 said:
Flame but, but I'm fine with no FireWire on the new MacBooks. I use FW400 for connecting my backup drive (old Maxtor One Touch II) to my iMac. Soon I'll even use FW800 with my new OWC dual drive enclosure (2 x 1TB in RAID 1). The Maxtor drive will then become the MacBook's backup drive, and USB2 will be fine for that. Sure it would have been nice, as even FW400 is faster than USB2, but it's definitely no deal breaker for me.
Click to expand...

+1. Hopefully not many people jump off the cliff due to the missing firewire. For me, even having a few firewire devices, it isn't a big deal at all. Apple is simply moving beyond FW400 and is creating some separation between the MB and MBP. I am sure there will be some adapters in the future. People should just chill and not get so worked up. If it is that big of a deal now, don't buy the machine.:)
 
cube said:
Floppy drives were obsolete and you could get a USB drive if you really needed it.

FireWire equipment is by no means obsolete and compatibility cannot be added to the MacBook.

Totally opposed situations. The floppy argument is completely bogus.
Click to expand...
Thank you!!
 
RedTomato said:
True, it'd be bit of a pain for you. But it's still (in theory) possible. And you have to admit, there's not many people who use TDM every single day. (and using an ethernet cable or network over FW are other option for daily use)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was exaggerating anyway. :eek: I use it more like once a week than once a day. It's for backup purposes, and I'll find another way to backup the new Macbook. But I'll still use TDM to backup my other systems.

Compare this to the utter lack of a workaround for FW cameras. 95% of decent cameras use FW.
Click to expand...

I know. Unfortunate.
 
Yes

Absolutely, I have Firewire CF card readers, external HDs, Midi controller, etc. that I've used with my previous MacBook that worked great. Pretty much forced to buy MBP now (which I did this past wknd).
 
Eric S. said:
When you say "new Macbook," do you mean a new aluminum model? If you are trying to boot an older version of Leopard on an aluminum Macbook it isn't going to boot, period. That even goes for versions of 10.5.5 that are older than the one that came with the new Macbook. The new models include drivers for the new graphics chips that aren't supported by older versions of 10.5.5.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is one of the new aluminum Macbook's. I had considered the OS version as a possible problem when trying to boot from the USB drive, so did update the OS on the external drive to 10.5.5 and it did not make a difference.

I am also aware that these new MB's use a completely new set of drivers, but question why I can boot into Tiger from my firewire drive on a machine that is running Leopard internally (my Mac Mini), not that I'm trying to boot into Tiger on this new machine. Just want to be able to boot from ANY external drive.
 
jdwingnut said:
Yes, this is one of the new aluminum Macbook's. I had considered the OS version as a possible problem when trying to boot from the USB drive, so did update the OS on the external drive to 10.5.5 and it did not make a difference.

I am also aware that these new MB's use a completely new set of drivers, but question why I can boot into Tiger from my firewire drive on a machine that is running Leopard internally (my Mac Mini), not that I'm trying to boot into Tiger on this new machine. Just want to be able to boot from ANY external drive.
Click to expand...
Select it as your startup drive. That's how I got an external HD to boot my old C2D MB when its HD died.
 
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